I rarely check this thread, but I'm bored. So I apologize for refering to something a few pages back, but I thought Darko was spending a lot of time hitting the weights with Ben when he was a Piston?

I thought I remembered reading/hearing about it a few times. How Ben had taken him under his wing so to speak?

Was he really not lifting weights at all? That seems strange to me. Especially for a still developing 18 year old.

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The first year he was hitting the weights hard... you could see he was bulking up (263LBs after first year)... I remember an article in the 2nd year where they were talking about the effects of weight lifting on his touch... I think that's when they backed it off.
Remember in the first year when he tossed Collins (Utah) around like a rag doll.

I like the head-to-head comparison between J to the Max and D-arko. They are both playing well... but Maxiel seems to be on the mission that we all wish Milicic would have gone on. The mission to lift off the bench .

I like the head-to-head comparison between J to the Max and D-arko. They are both playing well... but Maxiel seems to be on the mission that we all wish Milicic would have gone on. The mission to lift off the bench .

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..actually I wouldn't say both are playing well right now. 39% shooting and half a block a game is pretty poor...at least for a future Hall of Famer. (I'm really just poking fun of the situation right now. How glorious it would be if this trend continued throughout the preseason!)

..actually I wouldn't say both are playing well right now. 39% shooting and half a block a game is pretty poor...at least for a future Hall of Famer. (I'm really just poking fun of the situation right now. How glorious it would be if this trend continued throughout the preseason!)

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When I say playing "well", I mean that he is playing about how Dyess plays... except he passes better and shoots a lower %.

Darko also fouled out in the last game and is having problems showing his "shot blocking dominance", but don't tell bballjay. He's really sensitive about that. ;)

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look at jmax's assist total. has he had one this preseason??

i love the way jmax plays. he's very aggressive offensively. jmax also doesn't have to share the rock/rebounds with a superstar.

darko has to play robin to d. howard and i think he is perfect for that role. he prefers it i think. pippen never put up the stats that jordan did but jordan wouldn't have won all those championships without him.

i agree jmax is having a better preseason. he's having a better preseason than sheed, mcdyess and nazr too.

the big difference is that with Jmax, you know what you're going to get. You can count on that.

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Which is? JMax is playing well in pre-season games, but he played horrible in summer league, and I've yet to see him play well in real game time. Hopefully he's turned the corner, and he'll carry this into the regular season, but from what I've seen in the past JMax is still an undersized, slow, blackhole, no defense, power forward. But he can dunk over and through people.

As for Darko, nice article on him today:Darko Milicic held the ball overhead at the high post, faked a pass to Dwight Howard's left hand to bait the defender and then flung a perfect bounce pass to the Orlando Magic center for a thunderous dunk.

It was just one isolated play from the Orlando Magic's preseason home opener Tuesday night, but it was also a play that showed the endless possibilities with the two 20-something power forwards on the floor together.

Because their skills differ so greatly -- Howard batters foes with his power and athleticism, while Milicic is more finesse with his passing and feathery outside touch -- they mesh well together along the Magic's starting line.

The biggest reason Darko busted here was not lack of effort, but insisting he be something that he isn't. He's no more a bruiser than JMax is a finesse player. The shame is, considering their complimenting skill sets, Darko and JMax could have made a pretty good tandom.

i love the way jmax plays. he's very aggressive offensively. jmax also doesn't have to share the rock/rebounds with a superstar.

darko has to play robin to d. howard and i think he is perfect for that role. he prefers it i think. pippen never put up the stats that jordan did but jordan wouldn't have won all those championships without him.

i agree jmax is having a better preseason. he's having a better preseason than sheed, mcdyess and nazr too.

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so thats your excuse for him hitting less than 40% from the field and only averaging a half a block a game? lol. He was wearing his Robin costume. Good one.